velocypedalist said:
Once again, quite a curious post considering Wash U's secondary fee is only $55...at least it was last year when I sent it in. The letter is sent based soley on MCAT scores, perhaps there was something missing from your application, or simply something in there that didn't resonate with them. Getting into any one particular school is somewhat of a crapshoot...its hard to tell exactly what type of student they're looking for. But in short, I hardly think that the letter a scam to get your $55 2ndary fee....or was it $100?
Getting into any school is somewhat of a crapshoot and no school should give a particular applicant or applicants the impression that an interview is almost certain provided they submit an application. There were no red flags on my appliation or I would not have had the success I had in this process. I had luck on my side
and I had a decent application.
On November 15 of last year, I made out a check to Washington University for FIFTY dollars. That must have been what I paid for my secondary application to be "processed." Have you received one of these letters? It's signed by a dean and makes you feel like you have passed some sort of pre-screening. The way mine was worded made it sound like they wanted me and because I had nobody to tell me that virtually anyone with a high MCAT score recieves the letter, I wasted money on sending my primary and secondary, which taken together is somewhere between fifty and one hundred dollars.
If your grades from high school and college cannot be beat, your letters of recommendation receive praise elsewhere, and you have quite a list of attributes and experiences to bring to the table, then you anticipate an interview. The letter makes it sound automatic. Read it yourself and decide.
If your high MCAT score was simply a fluke, the rest of your numbers were low, your experiences and recommendations were weak, and you were striking out with other, big name universities, then you might not anticipate receiving an interview despite the kind letter.
I am happy with how the process turned out for me, but for as long as I frequent this forum, I am going to throw my two cents in when it comes to Washington's marketing scheme. Why? Because I wish there was someone like me to have warned me. If anything, I will save people who are ambivalent about applying to Washington University the expense and frustration of wasting their time and hard earned cash.
Do not fall for this deceptive marketing. Washington must be a great school, but like everywhere else there are no shortcuts to an interview. If you received their marketing letter, then congratulations on a great performance on the MCAT. You will not receive any special attention from their admissions committee. The letter goes out to everyone with scores near their averages. If you wanted to apply to Washington, you probably would have already. For me, it came down to a money issue. I didn't know much about the school before I chose where to apply, so instead of applying to Washington, I stuck with schools closer to home. By the time I had received their letter, however, I had only received my first couple of interview invites and did not want to pass up on a chance to receive another. This letter is probably sent to tens of thousands of applicants and receiving one does not place you at an advantage over any other applicants. I wish I had known that. Would I still have applied? In retrospect, this has been a very expensive process, so knowing what my odds were, no I wouldn't have applied. You may even be at a disadvantage in responding to this letter if by the time they receive your application, they have reached the limit for the number of people whom they wish to interview.
I'm not saying "don't apply there," I'm not making things up, but I want you to be aware that Washington University is not using this letter to recruit
you. They are using tens of thousands of copies of this letter to recruit people like you.
If their letter gave you any impression other than what has been discussed, then I hope this thread has been of help to you, even if it's not news you wanted to hear.
Good luck to everybody!
I still think I have an outside shot at WashU, they love UW applicants and the research background
